Tag: IBP

Ban On Meat Packer Ownership: Too Little, Too Late

Mike Callicrate

By Mike Callicrate Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a longtime advocate for fair markets, is once again reintroducing a bill that would make it unlawful for meat packers to own livestock more than seven days prior to slaughter. Similar legislation has been introduced before, but the powerful packer lobby has always succeeded in killing it. Aside from whether the bill actually has a chance this time, there’s another question to consider. If Congress bans meat packers from owing livestock, Read More …

America Returns to the Jungle

Mike Callicrate

A safe and secure food supply is essential to a free society The United States was always able to feed itself. Except for a few non-essentials like coffee, tea and bananas, we were self-sufficient. The British government, along with their corporate partner, the East India Company, saw unlimited potential to extract wealth through the American colonies. Our Founding Fathers, willing to fight for our freedom and sovereignty, risked their lives and the lives of many citizens, to save Read More …

The Return of the Beef Trust

Mike Callicrate

“You should be suing Walmart [instead of IBP], they are the problem. They tell us what they will pay and we have no choice but to pay you less” – John Tyson was at the 2002 NCBA convention to announce his intent to purchase IBP, the biggest beef packer in the world. Callicrate informed him of the cattlemen’s lawsuit against IBP for unfair market practices. “It has been brought to such a high degree of concentration that it Read More …

Eleven years ago a few good cattlemen stood up for justice in an Alabama courtroom.

Mike Callicrate

Eleven years ago a few cattlemen stood up for justice in an Alabama courtroom. The jury awarded the cattlemen $1.28 billion in damages for Tyson/IBP’s manipulation of the cattle market. Before the court could consider injunctive relief, Judge Lyle B. Strom reversed the jury verdict and ordered the cattlemen to pay Tyson/IBP’s court costs of $80,000. The Supreme Court refused to hear the cattlemen’s case for fair markets in favor of the Anna Nicole Smith family feud case. Read More …

Important anniversary coincides with compelling new book

Mike Callicrate

By Mike Callicrate | February 20, 2014 This week I’m taking a moment to observe the 10-year anniversary of the most important court case in the history of the U.S. cattle industry, while turning the last page on a powerful new book that tells in precise and riveting detail the sad story of why the lawsuit was so critically needed. Christopher Leonard’s new book, The Meat Racket – The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business, which hits book Read More …

It’s Still Called Stealing

Mike Callicrate

Grade and yield buying used to be called “Grade and Steal” by most cattlemen. Today, it’s called Value-Based Marketing by the big packers and their cheerleaders, like Certified Angus Beef’s (CAB) Miranda Reiman. In her March 4th article, “Value-based cattle marketing dominates”, Reiman attempts to mentally condition Angus breeders and other cattlemen to accept their fate in Big Food’s supply chain where performance enhancing drugs, added flavorings, Pink Slime, various pre-digestion methods, and meat recalls, do more to Read More …

From Berkeley to Boston: Coming Together Around Freedom, Fairness and Food

Mike Callicrate

By Mike Callicrate & Fred Stokes Eating is one thing we all have in common. And, to millions of us, what we eat, how it’s produced, and where it comes from is important. OCM has worked for the last fourteen years to restore competition in the agricultural marketplace. We believe family farmers and ranchers make the best stewards of our land and livestock, and are the most reliable and trustworthy sources of high quality, healthy and safe food. Read More …

We almost had it all

Mike Callicrate

By Richard Oswald The old rule of thumb is that farmers live like paupers only to die as millionaires when heirs receive their estate. That’s because land grows in value over time, but the return it gives owners, modest, slow appreciation, is traditionally only about 5% per year. Its a long story why, but because they owed money on their farm my parents were a little poorer in the early sixties than typical farmers their age. Corn prices Read More …